


I Found You

by wannabe_free



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-26
Updated: 2013-03-26
Packaged: 2017-12-06 14:45:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/736859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wannabe_free/pseuds/wannabe_free
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Niall has been sharing a flat with Zayn for two years....<br/>An au where Zayn, Niall  meet at University and share a flat. This was already posted but I edited it so it's easier to read and wrote a proper ending.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Found You

**Author's Note:**

> This was already posted but I edited it because there were a lot of punctuation mistakes and the format was crappy, so it's easier to read now. Oh and I added things here and there and wrote a proper ending. Hope you like it and please leave feedback.

Niall has been sharing a flat with Zayn for two years.

It wasn't his choice actually, they were just put together in one of the university's flat accommodation. But he figures he could have done much worse and is, in fact, very fond of his British flatmate .

It is sort of bond to happen, their friendship, because he has spent more time with Zayn in the last two two years that with his childhood friends from Ireland.

Since the very beginning they learn to rely on each other, and they still have fresh in their minds that first awkward night when they stayed awake talking until the sun rays had started to sip through the windows. Because when you are far from home, it always comes handy to have someone next door you can talk to. So there is this unspoken agreement between the two of them where they know they have each other's backs and take care of the other.

This has been happening since day one, when Niall could not reach for the upper shelves of his closet and Zayn had offered to hold his swivel chair still as the blond climbed on it to make sure Niall wouldn't slip and fall. 

And Niall feels very grateful for this bond they have developed ( Zayn's friends from Bradford may not mention it, but they roll their eyes at the mentions of Niall when he gets home for the weekend because “damn Zayn, you only know the boy for months”). But, how not to? There are days (those rainy, sluggish days spent on the couch, with splitting headaches, consequence of heavy-drinking sessions) where it's just the two of them not seeing or talking to anybody else, except perhaps for Niall's boyfriend Josh who calls to check on the blond and because he “Just wanted to hear your voice before I got to bed, love”. So these little things do the trick and three months into living together they know pretty much anything there is to know about the other.

They do hang out with other people as well. Niall, being the social creature he is, brings people all the time to hang out with them and soon enough they are bonding with three other boys named Louis, Liam and Harry. And Zayn is overwhelmed by how easy this has been; settling down in London and meeting new friends, and how much harder it would have been if he had not met Niall.

Naturally, though, not everything are rainbows and butterflies. And soon enough Niall learns that even though he loves the English lad to bits, there are a bunch of things about him that annoy the crap out of him. 

Some of them are silly; easy to ignore, ( aka, Zayn's habit of forgetting to close the living room's window after he's done smoking, and then complaining how bloody cold the flat is. Or his judgmental look on his face when Niall stuffs his face with fast food).

Then, there are these other little things about him which are a little bit more unnerving.  
  


Niall reckons that the main source of the problem lies in how attractive the Bradford boy actually is.

This has been problematic when Niall first moved into the flat. Gay Niall who had a very happy, very stable relationship with his boyfriend Josh.

  
When Josh first came visiting for the weekend (because London and Brighton are quite near, so he visited them all the time) and saw Zayn, he frowned and his jaw twitched almost imperceptibly, (Niall remembers having a headache after Josh finally stopped complaining about Zayn.) And Niall chuckled because, yeah, he had eyes, and he was aware that Zayn was a very fine looking guy, but not even for a moment did he think that would be a problem.

And he was right. He can handle himself around Zayn and his hotness pretty well. He's just grown used to it, to the point he is totally unfazed when Zayn walks around their flat stark naked after he's had a shower.  


Josh, well... he soon starts to take a liking of the English boy, (sort of). However, he is still extra grabby with Niall whenever Zayn is around, just for good measure.

So, yeah... the fact that Zayn is sort of (very) attractive might have caused some tension in his relationship with Josh... However, that's hardly the problem with living with atractive people...

Naturally, model-like features don't go unnoticed at uni, (or anywhere). And Zayn is not one to boast but Niall is around him all the time and he knows the reaction he gets from women (and some men too) ; they just throw themselves at him.

So, as anticipated, their freshers year their flat is a parade of gorgeous girls going in and out the flat. It gets pretty wild but Zayn is always respectful, always making sure it's fine with Niall, (he'll cancel any hook up if the blond has and exam or wants to hang out with him). Basically he applies religiously the bros before hoes principle, and Niall cannot have any complains. He amuses himself with Zayn trying to sneak them in and out without having Niall notice, (he blushes furiously on those (not so) rare occations when Niall actually catches him in fraganti.)

For his part, Niall sometimes gets a bit moody when the boys try to get him to go out with them and actually manage to convince him. He's tried to explain them thousand of times that he gets bored seeing them suck faces with other people. Because that's what single Liam, Harry, Louis and Zayn do; they get smashed and make out with randoms against walls. 

However, Niall has Josh, and he feels really awkward when his friends start chatting people up. So he is more than happy when he can turn them down, and plan a drinking session in the flat with other close friends. (Plus, that way he doesn't have to listen to Josh complain, because he gets really insecure when Niall goes to a party.) Instead, it's Zayn who moans about how much they missed Niall at the party and how annoying it is that the blond lets Josh control him so much.

So he's glad when halfway into the summer and via text, Liam announces them that he is dating a girl named Danielle, because now he has someone who understands how difficult and demanding is to be in a relationship.

 

  
  


When they go back to their shared flat for their second year they are excited and happy because they have not seen each other for months. Niall is sure he's not missed anything on Zayn's life, because they have been sending what's apps back and forth every single day, but Niall's grown used to Zayn's physical presence as a constant in his life, so it is comforting and reassuring when they sprawl on the couch, beer in hand, and shattered after a long day of traveling and settling down.

“So how's the boyfriend?” Zayn asks conversationally, “ I was expecting to see him today.”  
  
  


Niall doesn't try to conceal his sadness. Because that's not why they do.  
  
  


“He's already in Brighton, been spending the week there and helped him settling.”  
  
  


Zayn nods, not pushing further. Niall is really grateful for this. It is always hard after the summer. Because in summer Niall and Josh grow used to spend every waking moment together and then September comes and they are lucky if they can see the other once or twice a month.  
  
  


“Know what? I have decided to settle down as well.” Zayn declares ceremoniously.  
  
  


“Well, good luck with that, manwhore.” Niall chuckles, not quite believing that the dark haired boy is actually going to give up on his sluttish ways.

  
However, as the month goes on, he has to swallow his lack of faith because, so far, Zayn has not brought anyone over.

  
“That doesn't mean you aren't sleeping around,” Niall jokes one day, “you are just hiding them from me to prove you point. But no one buys your celibate shit.”

Zayn humphs in fake indignation and nudges Niall playfully, “Hey! I didn't use to sleep around... I made love around” he says.

Niall throws a cushion straight to his face and the subject is shrugged off in favor of a major cushion fight.  
  


After two months Niall actually starts to believe that indeed Zayn has changed and may be in fact looking for a especial someone so, being the sweet guy he is, he tries to help as much as possible and introduces Zayn to every nice single girl he knows.

At some point though, Zayn starts to get on his nerves and he realizes that this won't be as easy as expected; Zayn just seems to be interested in girls that show him no interest at all. 

Just a nice gesture or a polite smile will suffice to disenchant the English boy, and Niall, whose job in life is to have Zayn constantly psychoanalyzed, decides to figure out what the hell is wrong in his mate's head and comes to the conclusion that apparently the dark haired boy is sick of girls who are too eager, and too easy, and, (he is quoting here), “ I just need a challenge; someone exciting to make up for my lack of sex life”).

  
So this is where the real circus starts. The scene usually goes like this,

  
“That one, with the black hair.”

  
“Which one?”

  
“God, Niall, are you blind? She's right in front of you.”

  
“That one?” The blond can't help but shriek.

  
“Yeah? Why the tone? Nothing's wrong with her, she's hot.” Zayn retorts.

  
And she is, (n some fucked up way)¨. However, she is also....

  
“Kind of mmm gory?” Niall suggests.

  
Because the girl wears fucking spikes on his wrists, and crossings, and way too much eyeliner...

It is not that alarming at the beginning. Just a tad unsettling. Zayn might be wearing darker clothes that he usually does, but it's almost November so it makes sense. And, what if he's been listening to Marilyn Manson recently? It's a refreshing change from the usual Jaz Z and Taio Cruz, and even if it creeps the hell out of Niall, he just turns Michael Bubble louder on his laptop and pretends not to notice.

  
Yeah, Niall remembers gory-girl with a shiver. It was intense, but also short lived because as much as she played hard to get, she ended up in Zayn's bed after two weeks of intensive wooing and barely three days later came the “She's not what I expected”, “I think I got it all wrong”, “ I think we wouldn't have worked out in the long way.”

  
So gory-girl goes as fast as she came.

Sporty-girl comes soon after that. And this one is even worse than the first one because she actually tries to kick Zayn's ass because he is being a “Smart-ass, just fuck off, can't you see I am not interested”. And Niall who is there to witness the whole scene knows that the girl has said the magic words. 

Later when they are sitting in the canteen, Niall tries to convince Zayn to give up on “sporty-girl” because she is too damn scary. He says,

  
“I'm telling you, my gaydar was going crazy, mate, I know what I am talking about.”

  
Zayn puffs and rolls his eyes, “She is not gay, she is just a little bit edgy, she will warm up to me in no time.” 

And it starts all over again. Zayn trying too hard.

  
Zayn Malik who smokes two packs of cigarettes a day, who hasn't set foot on a gym EVER, who claims he supports “Los Angeles Galaxy” because Beckam plays for them and “That man has a damn good hair”, is now all set to impress sporty-girl with his non-existent athletic abilities.

So he goes and buys himself fancy sporty clothing and footwear, and creates a play list on his Ipod with “ running music”, but he's gone as far as listening to 2 songs, because after that he is about to spit his lungs. And Niall decides to take pity on him when he sprawls on the couch, flushed and breathless; his body subdued to the mercy of cramps.

  
“It's just the first day, you'll do better tomorrow” the blond says trying to cheer him up.

  
“I'm just a skinny, sad excuse of a man” Zayn whines, the sound muffled against the cushion.

  
“You are just not used to it, it's a matter of time” Niall assures.

Zayn studies his, chewing on the inside of his cheek, comtemplative, and asks, “Will you come running with me tomorrow” 

Niall snorts, and deadpans a dry “No”.

  
And Zayn pouts, offended, but mostly tired and Niall sighs and gives in, “ I'll join you with the bike” 

  
Zayn bounces in the couch exitedly and rushes to says “Fine, and we should actually start going to the gym aswell” His eyes narror and sweep over Niall's body and he adds “because if I suffer of a bad case of “wimp-ness”, you've got it worse, mate” and he encircles Niall's skinny arm with his hand to prove his point.

  
“That's not even a word” Niall humphs and gets rid of his flatmate's hold “and I am happy with my arms, thank you very much.”

Coming to think of it, Zayn's crush on sporty-girl is one of the worse, because not only is Zayn unabashedly trying to be someone he is not, but he is also trying to drag Niall along.

On the positive side, now Niall doesn't have to fight for the remote control to watch the city/united match or listen to Zayn complain about it (Zayn's now willing to watch it because Niall's told him it's like the biggest thing ever for people who are into sports). So Zayn actually sits there for a whole 30 minutes faking interest and getting on Niall's nerves with questions such as “ what is an offside?”, until he gets bored and starts checking twitter on his phone and Niall sighs in relief.

Hence, it is to be expected that Niall can't wait for the girl to finally give into Zayn's charms so both of them can get on with their lives, and oh, how happy he is when she finally does. 

Unfortunately though, their love story goes as far as a couple of fast, messy blow-jobs in the lockers of the gym and several death threats from the feminine football team when Zayn eventually gets tired of her.

After sporty-girl, things go a little crazy and Zayn decides to postpone finding his perfect match for Niall's sake.

No one is expecting what happens. Not Zayn, not their mates Liam, Harry and Louis, not Niall's parents and certainly NOT Niall, so when Josh calls and tells him that it's over it comes as a blow in the face.

  
Zayn reunites the crisis cabinet in the living room (aka their 3 closest friends), and they all listen to Niall's hoarse voice. He is not crying, because he never cries in front of people. If anything, he laughs even louder, but the strained voice and his contorted face are more painful to watch than actual tears.

  
“He told me we barely see each other, and that he doesn't find time to be with me because he's so damn busy with uni” Niall explains, “ He thinks there is no point being in a relationship when neither of us is motivated anymore.”

Niall looks at his lap, and the rest of them share a distressed glance.

  
“I'm so sorry Ni” Liam whispers.

  
“Yeah, it sucks, I just... didn't see this coming, if he just had talked to me earlier, I could have done something to make things better.” The blond says, and Harry squeezes his knee sympathetically.

  
And, when the blond turns down Louis' offer of going out to have a first taste at being single, the boys decide to leave and give Zayn a chance to sort the mess that Niall is.

  
However, when they do leave, Niall gets up, goes to his room, and closes the door behind him. And it's just a door that separates them, and Zayn knows that Niall is finally breaking down, (he can hear his quiet sobs coming from the inside of the room), but at the moment the door seems like a brick wall, something impassable. He can feel a pool of dread at the pit of his stomach when he finds himself unable to obey the voice in his head that's telling him to go inside Niall's room and hold him close. In the end he goes to his own room and tries to drown Niall's sobs with the loud music coming from his headphones.

  
  


Zayn indulges Niall with two whole days of wallowing in self pity and then he decides to make an intervention.

  
What triggers it is Niall's resolution to have a trip to Brighton for the weekend to show Josh that he still cares. So Zayn does what he has to do; he sits Niall on his bed and takes the spot next to him. He settles his laptop on his lap, and opens his Facebook account.

  
Niall does have a Facebook account, but having what's app and being the lazy person he is, he never actually checks it. Zayn does check it everyday though, so he is aware of the photos Josh's been updating for the last months.

  
  


He never thought too much into it, because this is Josh they are talking about and he's always been head over heals for Niall (way too intense, if you ask him). But now he can't help but put two and two together. Because judging by the last updates it doesn't look like Josh is too stressed with uni at all. Instead, he's been busy getting drunk and taking photos of himself all over other boys, (especially that one tall and dark haired boy who plays the bass), and Zayn wonders how would Josh react if it were Niall in the photos instead of him.)

  
Zayn's been planning on not telling Niall, because the blond is hurt enough as it is, but he won't let his friend make a fool of himself going all the way to Brighton, either. So he shows Niall what his ex has been up to recently and that helps Niall to open his eyes, if just for a while.

And there you go, the very reason why Zayn, making an ode to true friendship, decides to postpone his search for his perfect match; because if Niall is going to go wild, there's no way Zayn is leaving him to do it alone.

And it is fascinating; this new Niall. This daring, carefree, absolutely crazy new alter-ego. And Zayn nods his head vigorously when Louis says that “I didn't know that he had it in him”, because it's completely true and, until now, they had not realized what a tigh leash Josh had around Niall's neck. So there they are, taking notes on how Niall talks to a boy oozing sexual vibes; his eyes dark and his moves predatory.

They observe in awe his modus operandi because Niall already has the other boy hanging onto his every word. However, even if this side of Niall is new to them, he's still there, his essence is the same; the boyish, carefree boy, who laughs too hard and who alway dives in head first.

This is just the start because they pretty much party every night as December drags and one night Niall chuckles and whispers in Zayn's ear that after three weeks of going out on a daily basis there are not many faces left in the disco that he has not fucked yet. And Zayn laughs, because single Niall is even funnier than the old Niall and he is having the time of his life because, right there, dizzy as he is and leaning into the blond for support he feels like the king of the world.

However, it all goes downhill the morning Niall wakes up to Zayn's staring eyes. It takes a couple of minutes for everything to sink in. He does not remember a thing, but the facts are there, and they are making him blush furiously.

  
And again, Niall is hit by reality too fast, too hard, too unexpectedly. Because, why the hell is he always the last one to catch up on things?

  
He can't face this right now. He can't answer the questions shining in Zayn eyes because he still has to understand what just happened; understand what the fuck happened last night, why he can't remember anything, why is he naked, and sore, and unable to look at his best friend in the eye.

  
And god, it is awkward to have to get up and find his boxers and does Zayn have to stare the whole time? Niall walks towards the door and his steps seem too fucking loud and oops! he almost steps on one of the used condoms.

As Niall washes the smell of sweat, come and cigarettes off his skin, he feels he is about to lose it, because his chest feels tight and his lips are quivering with what soon will become loud sobs.  
He lets himself go the moment he is tucked under his blankets, clean and clad in his pajamas and all his world comes crumbling down.

  
Because he's just had sex with one of the people he cares most about in the world. And god, he feels like he just cheated on Josh whom he still hasn't forgotten. And now he's fucked everything up; the possibility to get back together with Josh, and his friendship with Zayn who must be so confused because he isn't even gay to begin with, and Niall's been a right jerk to him. And what if he's fucked up their friendship just for a fuck that he can't even remember?

  
Niall is sobbing so loud that he can't actually hear how Zayn opens the door. However, he feels his mattress sink under the weight and then the older boy is spooning him from behind and running his fingers up and down Niall's left arm soothingly.

“Shhhh, it's fine, we are fine, there's nothing to worry about” Zayn whispers and it just makes Niall's sobbing worse for some odd reason. 

When he eventually calms down, Zayn turns him around so that they are facing each other and Niall blushes because he doesn't cry with an audience. Never, ever. But Zayn's eyes, which are sweeping across his face, are not judgmental at all if anything they are understanding.

“We can just put this behind” Zayn resumes and when Niall opens his mouth to speak he hushes him. And, no, Niall doens't want to talk about it, but he knows that Zayn deserves an explanation. He needs to hear that Niall still has feelings for Josh, and how special their friendship is to the blond and how he is scared this single act can blow it. Niall feels paralyzed with fear at the thought of losing Zayn but Zayn talks again. 

“You don't need to say anything, I know, I understand, let's just go back to normal, shall we?

  
Leave it to Zayn, to figure him out without the need of words. And when Niall nods and wraps his arms tightly around his friend, he squeezes as hard as he can, clinging unto him with desperation, trying to muster how grateful he is for having Zayn in his life.

  
  


  
  


“So, you took him back” Niall doesn't know how to answer the text Zayn's just sent him. 

He is laying on Josh's bed, and they are tangled in an awkward position, so the blond tries to figure a way to type without waking his boyfriend up.

  
But what is Zayn expecting of him? Because that was not a question, it was a statement. And he can imagine Zayn saying those words, and the disapproval on his face. 

  
“He just came all the way to Ireland to talk to me and apologize.” 

  
Niall winces when he hears the phone ringing loudly, and he picks it up quickly before it wakes Josh up.  
Luckily he manages to untangle himself and get out of the room without stirring the other boy awake and he closes the door behind him.

  
“ Damn, Zayn, you almost woke up the whole house.” he greets.

  
“You are here in England with him, aren't you?” and just as he imagined, Zayn's tone is of displeasure.

  
“Yeah, we spent a week in Ireland and then we came here until the Christmas holidays are over.”

  
“Oh.”

  
“Just say it already” Niall groans.

  
“It isn't what you want to hear” Zayn shoots back.

  
“I want to know your opinion.” Niall retorts sincerely.

  
“Won't you get mad?” Zayn asks, worrying his lip.

  
“I know you are just trying to be helpful.” The blond reasons.

  
“ I just think that it is too much of a coincidence that now that he got into that boy's pants he starts missing you again all of sudden.” Zayn declares.

  
“Oh.” And Niall is left speechless because, ouch, that stung.

  
“And I think you can do so much better.”

  
“Right” Niall says patiently.

  
“And I kind of hate Josh for how he hurt you.” Zayn adds as an afterthought.

  
“Okay.”

  
“Not mad?” The tanned boys aks.

  
“I can't get mad with you, you silly.” Niall blurts smiling down the phone.

  
“I miss you, kind of,” Zayn admits, “when will you be back? I was planning to go a little bit earlier and the guys are coming earlier as well.”

Niall worries his bottom lip and studies his nails distractedly before saying, “I dunno, I just got back to speaking terms with Josh, think I should try to spend as much time as possible with him now that I can.”

  
“Yeah, I suppose.” Zayn breaths out with a resigned tone, "Just take care, I don't want you to get hurt again.”

  
“I won't, Zayn, you don't need to fuss, I'll be fine.” The Irishman reassures him.

  
“Yeah... See you soon mate, say hello to him from me.” Then he adds, “ Oh, and tell him I'll chop his dick if he hurts you again as well.”  
  


Niall laughs musically, “I'll send your love.” The blond jokes. “I can't wait to see you again.” 

  
  


  
  


Zayn actually surprises him when he tells him about tattoo-boy because, as far as Niall knows Zayn is straight as a ruler. However, Niall figures, fancying a boy and actually fucking one, (Niall blushes at this point) does not sound all that straight to him, ( the blond can't help to think that maybe he is the cause that Zayn is considering boys as well as girls and he feels sort of flattered at the thought.)

Tattoo boy is a couple of years older than Zayn and Niall soon he learns that they met at a party and that he works in a tattoo parlor downtown.

  
  


So basically Niall stares unimpressed at the inked skin on Zayn's collarbone. 

Zayn did try talking Niall into getting a tattoo with him “We can get matching one”, and he chuckles when Niall tells him that is “far too gay”. But Niall does agree to go with him, and he lets him grip his arm when the pain gets too bad.

And he has to admit that Zayn has a good taste in men, because tattoo boy is hot and he wears nice clothes. 

Niall observes quietly the way they interact and, as far as Niall can tell, tattoo guy is being polite and talking with Zayn but they don't seem to have much chemistry going on and he doesn't seem to have an actual interest in him. But, Niall guesses, his friend will make sure to change this in no time.

Of course, soon enough Zayn is on his way to full punk mode and every week he comes home sporting a new tattoo on his skin. (At one point Zayn's got so many that Niall often catches him staring at his own skin almost surprised to see the tattoo there.)

  
  


“It looks sick.” Zayn says raising his shirt, showing off a heart shape inked on his jutting, tanned hip to the four of them.

  
“What's the meaning behind it” Liam asks his. 

They are all gathered at Louis' residence.>  


Niall rolls his eyes at this point when Zayn shrugs and says, “Errr dunno mate, it just looked cool.”

  
“He just goes to the parlor and figures out which tattoo will be more random” Niall explains to Liam.

  
Zayn smiles, pretending to be offended and playfully scoffing at Niall retorts, “They _do_ have meaning. They are just too personal for me to tell you.”

  
Niall rolls his eyes again and clicks his tongue, “Sure they are,” he says, then wiggles his eyebrows suggestively and asks, “anyway, how are things coming along with tattoo-boy?”

  
Zayn squirms in his place when everyone looks at him. He groans, “Stop calling him that” then he shoves at Niall gently to prove his point and adds, “he's name is Rich and I dunno, I am really trying.” And Zayn's cheeks turn slightly red.

  
“Wow, you must really like him, if he's got you blushing.”Harry exclaims causing Zayn to blush even more.

  
“Yeah he is great.” Zayn nods shyly.

  
And Niall sees something in his eyes that has never been there. He's never took too seriously Zayn attempts at love before because they were all condemned to failure right from the start ( an image of gory-girl and her spikes crosses his mind). But tattoo-boy is different; he is nice, and handsome and interesting, and Niall could actually picture them together. Then he realizes that this time will not be as fleeting as the others. This time tattoo-boy might come here to stay and Niall wonders, _what if doesn't have time for me anymore?_ and worries his lips. But then he forces himself to stop being selfish and be happy for Zayn.

  
  


  
  


Two weeks after the heart-shaped tattoo Zayn comes home wearing a big smile.

  
“We got together at last.”

  
Niall smile is just as big, if only a little tiny bit more forced, he says, “I'm glad for you mate.”

  
Zayn walks closer to Niall, threads his arms around the blond's waists and picks him up from the floor excitedly. Then he pulls him back on the floor carefully and ruffles his blond hair fondly, “Yeah, he finally accepted to let me buy him a pint and in the end we kissed.”

  
“You just kissed?” Niall is confused, because Zayn always goes all the way.

  
Zayn blushes a little and Niall feels a funny little something twist in his stomach when Zayn explains, “Yeah, I know, want to take things slow, I don't want to fuck things up this time.”

  
Niall gasps. He breaths out, “Wow, I am impressed.”

  
Zayn beams and replies, “I know, mate, he agreed on a date with me tomorrow, I am taking him to the movies.” 

  
“You nervous, aren't you?” The blond asks fondly.

  
Zayn nods, “Yeah, I feel like a fish outside of water.”

  
“You will be fine.” Niall reassures him, “He is  great and you deserve this.” 

  
  


  
  


Niall frowns the day Zayn comes into his room, sits on his bed and, nervous and uneasy ask him,“Can I ask you favour?” 

Niall scrutinizes him. “Sure, anything,” he says, and he actually means it.

  
Zayn shift uncomfortably on the bed and fiddles with the bottom of his jumper, “I have been thinking for a while and I want to take things further with Rich.”

  
Niall's eyes go a little wide and he blushes as well, then he knowingly says, “I am spending the weekend away to go to Josh's, you can have the place for yourself” and just to make things less awkward he winks.

  
“Thank you so much.” Zayn says beaming.

  
Niall waves a hand at him dismissively “Don't mention it, just remember, safe sex if good sex.”

  
“Yeah, now you mention it...”And he is blushing again and it's weird because if there is something Zayn is not, that's a prude. “ Do you have like...mmm stuff?”

  
Niall nods and gets up to get the things Zayn will need feeling a faint blush spreading up his neck. He opens his drawer and takes the lube, and turns to Zayn to ask, “need condoms as well?”

  
“No, no, I've got that covered,” And Niall can tell that Zayn is nervous and he hopes this doesn’t get to awkward because they've never been awkward; they have no tabus.

  
“You will be fine” Niall starts, sitting on the bed once again, “it's easier with a man, you know?, just one hole. You can't get it wrong” 

Zayn laughs and visibly relaxes, “I know,” He smiles, “It's not my first time, anyway.” He winks and adds, “I had a good teacher.” 

He is being cheeky qnd Niall wants to be cheeky about it as well, but doesn't know if he can.

  
“You had the best there is” the blond retorts smugly, “Too bad we can't remember a thing of that day, but I am sure the memory is somewhere in your subconscious.”

Zayn smirks, and there's laughter shining in his eyes, “Wrong,” he says “you don't remember a thing. I do remember everyhting. I wasn't that drunk mate.”

And that's got Niall thinking because, why would he consider fucking Niall if he wasn't fucking plastered out of his mind? But the thought doesn't linger too much in his mind because he's hit by a sheer feeling of embarrassment and blushes furiously.

“Arghhh, you remember? God, that's too fucking bad!” Niall moans, cringing.

  
Zayn blinks and asks, “Why?”

  
“It's awkward that you can remember the whole thing.” Niall groans and hides his red face with his hands, “I am sure I did very embarrassing things.” 

  
Zayn takes Niall's face away to look at him. He looks amused, “Nahh, I enjoyed very much everything you did that night.” 

Zayn winks again and Niall has to restrain himself to not hide his face again.

  
“Shut up!” he exclaims, “ if I don't remember it didn't happen.” Niall crosses his hands over his chest stubbornly, and shakes his head, impossibly red.

  
Zayn smiles, “I just hope I remember how to do that thing you did with your tongue when you were....”

  
Niall shoves him before he can say anything else, “Zayn!” He exclaims, then he covers his ears.

  
Zayn just smirks when he sees Niall's blush spreading down his chest. The blond however, tries to get back his cool.

  
“ Well,” Niall starts, “ I just hope that you aren't disappointed when you fuck Rich.” and with his chin and noise pointed upwards with pride he adds, “ Be ready to lower your standards from now on...” 

  
Zayn snorts, “Oi!, don't be so full of yourself! I mean, you were great the first two times, but on the third you fell asleep on me.”

  
Niall tries not keep his expresion blank, but he knows he's still blushing, “There you go!,” he exclaims, “ Two times and I did “great” considering I was drunk out of mind. “ He lets a few beats of silence and adds, “ Imagine if I was sober...”

  
Zayn, however, twists his words and smirks, “It's that an offer, Horan?”

  
Niall feels his pulse pick up and his face burn, he groans, “Arghh, get out, you annoying person!” and pushes him out of his bed listening to his loud giggles.

  
  


Rich takes a liking to their flat, because after that weekend when Niall heads south to visit Josh, he never seems to leave it.

And Niall is fine with it, because the lad is a good laugh, and the three of them hang together on the couch all the time and Niall never feels like a third wheel. In fact they always invite him to be around them and they look really happy when the blond joins them.

“Rich has told me he can't wait to meet Josh, even though I warned him he's not missing much.” Zayn announces one day, when they are alone just watching crappy tv.

  
“Don't start again”

  
Zayn and Josh relationship has grown colder and colder since Christmas to the point where Josh never comes to London anymore as things between them are really chilly. So now Niall has to travel back and forth all the time.

  
Niall is sick of Zayn groaning and rolling his eyes whenever Josh calls, or when Niall informs him he's going to Brighton for the weekend.

  
For his part, Josh accuses Zayn of being a jealous bastard, “he wants your arse, that's why he is acting so bitchy”, he tells Niall.

And Niall, to reasure his boyfriend, shrugs it off, and claims that Zayn is 100% straight, even if the blond knows that this isn't true.

  
So there are several reasons why Niall doesn't want Josh to meet Rich.

  
“It is a bad idea, Zayn”

  
Zayn scrunches his nose, and asks, “Why?” but he doesn't even let the blond answer because soon he's rambling, “ Look, I don't like him. I'd go as far as to say I hate his guts. But I know he makes you happy, and I know he's not going anytime soon, so...” He curses inwardly and he looks frustrated with himself , “What I mean is, I am going to try.” Zayn finally says.  
  
  


Niall's head snaps at that and wavings his hands around he says, “Zayn, you don't have to...”

  
“But I feel selfish!” Zayn exclaims, “ because you have always tried to get to know my partners. Like... I remember you joining the gym with me so I could talk to that weird girl, and... Rich loves you … you've been anything but nice to him since the beginning, and I have never made and effort with Josh.” 

He takes a few secons to try to regain his composure and sighs, “ I can see how it tears you apart, the constant bickering between the two of us, and having to travel constantly.”

  
Niall sighs, too. And avoiding Zayn's eyes he comments, “Well, is not a great idea, anyway.” 

  
Zayn looks at him surprised and dryly blurts, “Why?”

  
Niall sits further back in the sofa and puts his feet on the coffee table, then mutters, “Long story.”

  
“You can tell me, Ni.” Zayn says, then he shifts closer to Niall and cups his chins to looks at him in the eyes. “ I can see that whatever it is, it's bothering you.” 

  
Niall ducks his head to get away from Zayn's touch and looks at his lap, “He's just...” he shakes his hands and takes a sharp breath, “ he's under the impression that you are in love with me.” 

He doesn't look at Zayn but he can feel the older boy shifting away from him and breathing out a soft “oh.”

“I tried to tell him that's ridiculous.” The blond resumes, “ but he won't listen to me.” Niall turns his enck to look at Zayn, “ He was breathing down my neck so I had to tell him that you are not gay, because he's always felt sort of insecure about you.” 

Niall is fidgeting with his hands and he nudges Zayn when he sees his smug expression.

“That means he doesn't know about Rich, and if I tell him he'll be mad at me for lying, and I am afraid he might tell Rich some of his paranoia, and ruin things for you guys.” He looks down again and shrugs his shoulders, “ So not a good idea, after all.”

  
Zayn stares at him speechless, he's face scrunches up in confusion and says, “So from this speech I gather he doesn't know about our little rendezvous....”

  
Niall's eyes go wide, his mouth ajar, “Of course not, are you mad? He would have made me move flats!” he exclaims.

  
Zayn crosses his arms over his chests. He puffs and snaps, “But he has no right to be mad, you weren't dating him when it happened.” then he mutters, “The good times.”

  
Niall frowns at the last comment.

  
“Zayn, he hates your guts, if he knew we fucked he'd be devastated, he'd kill you.”

  
Zayn sits straighter on the sofa, and he clenches his jaw, “Not if I killed him first.”

  
Niall huffs, “What happened with the “I'll try to get along with him?” he asks raising his hands, flustered.

  
Zayn deflates a little, he hisses, “I still mean it, bring him, and if he gets mad, it's his fucking problem, I promise I won't try to start shit.”

  
Niall bites his lips anxiously and Zayn relaxes throws his arms around Niall's shoulder, bringing the blond closer.

  
“What's it, Ni?”

  
Niall angles his face under the crook of Zayn's neck, “I am scared that he might find out... He'll try to separate us.” he points between their bodies “ I really don't want to have to choose between the two of you.”

  
“I promise you won't have to, I would never put you in that situation” Zayn ducks his neck to peck Niall's cheek.

  
“I know but Josh...”

  
“We'll cross the bridge when we come to it” Zayn interrupts him “A dinner in the flat next Saturday, the four of us. Sounds good to you?”

  
“Sounds awful.” Niall groans, “but, let's do this.”

  
“Wohooo, that's my Nialler!” Zayn cheers.

  
  


So Niall invites Josh to come over for the weekend and Josh is not really happy about it “Why don't we do it the other way around, it's nicer over here!”. But Niall manages to convince him, anyway, and tells him that Zayn is willing to be nice to him. 

And he smirks when he can almost hear over Josh clenching his teeth, and if Zayn decides to be nice, then Josh has to be nicer, just so he can surpass him. God, why do his boyfriend and best mate always have to act like children? 

  
  


So Saturday finds Niall and Josh sprawled on the coach, making out. Niall is well aware that Zayn and Rich will come in any moment now so he knows that he can't postpone the talk any longer.

  
He pulls apart from Josh demanding lips and smooths his hoody, then he forces himself to say,“ So, erm.... Josh I wanted to talk to you about something...”

  
Josh dives in for another short kiss and says, “What's it,love?”

  
Niall shifts away from him to sit straighter and Josh frowns. “So...” The blond starts, “Zayn is been seeing someone for a while now, so we thought it'd be nice for us to have dinner together, you know the four of us....”

  
Josh looks annoyed at the mention of Zayn and his whole body tenses.

  
“Does it have to be tonight though? I was expecting to get some alone time with you” Josh says kissing the blond possessively to get his point across.

  
Niall kisses back but squeezes Josh' side to get his attention, “We have all weekend though, it will be nice, I promise” the blond smiles.

  
Josh sighs childishly , but finally smiles and says,“Oookay.” Then he pecks the blond on the lips, “Just because I love you a lot.”

  
“Good thing, because I love you just as much” Niall retorts brightly.

They start kissing heatedly again, but Niall pulls back a couple of centimeters to say against Josh' lips, “Oh, and Josh... there is something more...Zayn is dating a boy.”

  
Niall tries to read his expression, is that a frown? And is that a vein pulsating on his neck?

  
“Dating a boy?”

Niall can almost hear his brain working at full speed, trying to process the new peace of information,. “But, he isn't....” Josh trails off, stuttering. “I thought you said he wasn't....” 

Something dark flashes in his eyes, and his unemotional tone makes Niall shiver; he knows for a fact that he is about to snap. 

“So he is a fucking fag as well? Isn't he? “ he growls. “You've been fucking lying to me all this time!?” He shove Niall away from him and hisses, “ What for though? So you could let him fuck you without me getting in the way? Is that it Niall? Have you two been fucking?”

  
And there must be something in Niall'S face that must be a give away, because Josh is shouting and hovering over him, ready to jump on him any moment now, and Niall is kind of scared he migh so he motions to get up from the sofa bracing himself for what he knows is about to come. However, Josh grabs his arm viciously hard and yanks him forcefully. Niall collapses on the sofa again, wincing.

  
“I am fucking talking to you” Josh shouts “ At least fucking admit it, have the decency to admit that you've been cheating on me with the guy I hate the most, you cheap whore!”

  
“It was just one time, and we weren't even together back then!” Niall shouts back, glowering in anger.

  
“So that's it? I bet you didn't waste a minute, did you? I bet you were fucking relieved when I told you I was done with you, and you ran to him and begged him to fuck you.”

  
Niall doesn't realize he is crying, and he doesn't realize he is holding his breath.Josh's face is distorted and red. He is still hovering over him; a deadly grip on his right arm, and Niall's fingers are starting to get numb for lack of blood circulation and Josh's nails are digging painfully into his skin.

  
Then Niall sees the door opening, almost in slow motion, as if he was watching the scene and not actually participating on it, and he knows what is about to happen and he dreads it.

Josh is far too gone too notice Rich and Zayn coming into the flat busy as he is shouting abuse at Niall.  
Niall diverts his eyes from his boyfriend's face to study Zayn' expression. His confusion at first, then Niall sees something click in his mind as the situation slowly sinks in, and finally (and this is new to Niall) pure hatred taking over his beautifully tanned features, making his hands curl into shaking fists, and his jaw to tense, and the vein on his forehead to pop out....

  
Suddenly Zayn is lunging himself at Josh, yanking his hand away of Niall's body. The, Zayn clutches Josh t-shirt and yanksforcefull until Josh in on his feet.

Josh tackles him and they start rolling on the floor throwing punches everywhere they can reach and Niall is shouting Zayn's name and asking him to stop, afraid they might kill each other.

There's a wet sound and blood starts cascading from Josh nose and finally Rich intervenes. He is a taller, and wider than the other two boys, but he still has to struggle to separate them because they are choleric and high with adrenaline. When he does, he pulls Josh to his feet and pushes him towards the door. Josh shrugs his hands off him and starts making his way towards the exit, his white T-shirt ruines with blood.

Before he walks out he turns to look at Rich and snaps bitterly, “You are fighting a lost cause here, they are fucking, did you know that?” 

Rich gapes at him , his eyes flickering to Zayn for a short second, then Josh smirk and adds, “I guess not. Your beloved boyfriend has been in love with mine since day one and he didn't stop until he got into Niall's pants” He humphs and patronizingly he says, “Be wise and get your ass out of here before they make a fool of you, too.” And finally he leaves with a slam.

There is a thick silence for a while, Zayn's heavy breaths the only audible thing on the flat.

  
“Are you guys okey?” Rich asks them.

  
Zayn shakes his wrist tentatively and winces, “Yeah, I am fine.”

  
“Niall?” Rich asks.

Niall blinks at him; eyebrows furrowed and bottom lip wobbling, and starts sobbing loudly. Rich walks to him and hugs him tight, petting his hair as Zayn watches helpless from his spot on the floor, hand nursing his swollen wrist.

Rich prepares tea and tugs Niall to bed and stays with him until the blond falls asleep, shattered. Then he goes to the living room where Zayn is sitting on the couch sipping from a mug.

  
Rich sits beside Zayn and urges, “Ok, explain.”

  
Zayn puts the mugs on the coffee table carefully, his hands shaking. “I don't know were to start.”

  
Rich studies him and sighs,“ What just happened, Zayn?”

  
And Zayn can hardly recognize his own voice as he starts explaining, never daring to meet Rich's eyes, his breathing shallow.

  
“Well, Josh and I never really got along..., I knew he was a jerk but I never thought he'd pull something like that.” his voice trembles a bit “ He always tries to start shit between Niall and me saying that I am in love with Niall, all because he is fucking jealous of me.”

  
He takes a shaky breath, and Rich hurries him to keep going.

  
“Maybe I didn't help either because I was always bickering and being rude, so it got to the point that he never came to the flat and it was Niall always visiting him in Brighton. The thing is, Niall tried to put him off the idea that I was in love with him and told him that I was straight, so tonight when he saw you he realized we'd been lying to him and he went crazy.”

  
Rich nods. His expresion is blank as he looks down at Zayn. “But that isn't everything, right?” he says, “He said you two were fucking each other?” and his voice is a mixture of curiosity and heartbreak.

  
Zayn winces and looks away. “Yeah, right, I didn't think Niall would tell him. It happened once. And we were both single.” Then his eyes bore into Rich's and he promiss, “I did not know you yet.”  
  
  


Rich nods absentmindedly, calmy states...“He was right about one thing though, you are in love with him.” 

  
Zayn looks at his feet and blushes. 

  
“I'm sorry, Rich. I knew Niall was out of my reach. I just...” and his eyes actually dampen a little at this point, but he blinks furiously, his long eyelashes getting wet in the process.” I wanted to move on, and you really helped, I like you a lot” He says kind of desperately.

  
And Rich smiles.

  
“I know you do” he says with a smile “but I am afraid that's not enough”

  
Zayn, nods, looking at him.

  
“Take care of him, will you?” Rich says.

  
“Of course.” And Zayn looks determined.

  
“I'll be off now, all this drama got me tired.” he gets up yawning.

  
“Thanks for everything.” Zayn says walking him to the door.

  
“Yeah...don't mention it, see you around Zayn.” He smiles and leaves.

Tattoo-boy leaves to never come back, and his memory always brings a smile to their mouths. 

Niall leaves the next day to Ireland to take a short break and let his loved ones take care of him the way he needs right now.

Zayn stays out of touch the whole two weeks he spends in Ireland. He goes out with the boys, attends his lectures, and tries to keep himself busy in the hope that the more he does, the faster the time will fly, and the faster they can leave this horrible episode behind and carry on with their lives.

When Niall comes back, Zayn hugs him tightly, nuzzling his face into his neck, then he meets the blond's eyes, giving him an evaluative look.

  
“How are you?” Zayn asks.

  
Niall smiles, and to Zayn's surprise it looks convincing.

  
“I just want to forget about this, I couldn't wait to come back and see you and the guys and go back to my life.”

  
Zayn nods, and hugs him again. 

  
“God, I am so glad you are fine.” And it sounds muffles against Niall's pale neck.

  
Niall smiles, but this time it is another kind of smile, a secretive smile maybe, a shy one. Zayn doesn't know because it is the first time that is has been directed to him, but he decides he likes it anyway.

  
  


The rest of second year, is about healing and forgetting.

  
  


  
  


Third year comes full of promises. It's their last year and they want to make the most of it. Liam and Danielle are now sharing a flat and so are Harry and Louis (theirs is actually 5 minutes walk from Zayn's and Niall's). Harry and Louis seem to be pretty excited about it because so far they have been living in residences. They actually go to Ikea to buy a few ornaments and then they invite their friends over to show them how nice the flat looks+.

Maybe it's the fact they are older or it might be that this is their last year of uni and they actually have to make an effort, but they all become quite domestic.

  
Surprisingly, it's Louis and Harry, formerly the ones who enjoyed parties the most, the ones who become more cozy and home-loving, and it always requires a lot of hard work and group thinking to get them to get out their shared flat.

Niall and Zayn don't actually care because they are too busy trying to catch up witch Dexter (God knows they will never be up to date with the episodes no matter how hard they try ), or playing Mario, or cooking... Besides, this year all the boys got Niall a sky sports subscription for his birthday, (Zayn regrets ever giving the idea when he finds that Niall is hooked up to almost every country league). So Niall drapes himself over the sofa trying to ignore Zayn's scowl because, “The Scottish league ….really?”, “It's almost over, just 30 minutes and....”, “30 what? No way, Niall, give me the remote”.

There are some days, though, when they are sick of revising and Niall swears he will die if he doesn't have a pint. They call Danielle and Liam who gladly join them for a beer or two and they sort of drag Harry and Louis out of their flat. “I swear I won't be surprised if they start to glitter like those Twilight vampires” Liam protests. 

And when they are on their way to the pub nobody even flinches when they see that Louis and Harry are holding hands because they have been seeing this coming for ages. They just nudge each other, whispering and chuckling, and when Louis turns to them aware of the silence, they just try to pretend that nothing happened.

“When did our friends become so boring?” Niall protests, sitting next to Zayn on the couch, after being turned down by every single of their friends.

  
“Never mind them, they are just fucking like rabbits” Zayn says non chalantly with his eyes glued to the TV.

  
Niall nudges him trying to catch his attention. 

“Well, I am bored and it's Saturday night. You used to go out every Saturday nighT” Niall points out moodily.

  
“Yeah, when we were eighteen. Zayn chuckles.

  
“Oh we are 21 now, big fucking deal” The blond spits out.

  
Zayn turns to look at him surprised, “Why so grumpy, blondie.” 

  
“I dunno” Niall finally says, deflating.

Zayn sweeps his thumb over Niall's bottom lip. He says, “ Stop pouting, we'll go out.”

  
Niall quirks an eyebrow, “Just the two of us?, how weird is that?” 

Zayn looks sideways and then back at Niall, a questioning look in his dark eyes. “Why?”

  
Niall shrugs his shoulders, “I dunno, it's lame, just the two of us, we'll look like loners.”

  
Zayn frowns, confused. The he shifts his body to get more comfortable on the couch and shifts his attention to the tv. “Ok, then” He says.

  
Niall looks at his profile and worries his bottom lip, “If you want I guess we can go.” N

  
At this point Zayn sighs with infinite patience and explains, “I was just asking you because I thought that's what you wanted, I'd rather stay in, and be lazy”.

  
Niall nods and shifts on his seat crossing his arms over his chest, “Yeah right, we'll stay then.”

  
Zayn raises an eyebrow at him. Silently he wonders why the blond is being so weird and why he won't tell him right away what's wrong.

  
“You are being weird.” Zayn smiles.

  
“I am not being weird.” Niall protests.

  
Zayn moves closer to mess up with his hair jokingly, but when he does he feels Niall tense under his touch. Niall doesn't understand why, but every single muscle on his body tenses when his friend scoots closer. He sees Zayn's flinch and remove his hands as if he had been burned. There's a tangible tension in the room now; an awkward silence weighing down on them.

  
Niall jumps to his feet and picks up his keys and announces, “Right, it's set, we are going out.” 

  
“Like this?” Zayn looks at himself up and down. He is wearing jeans and a plain t-shirt.

  
“Yeah, we are gonna look like loners anyway, so we might as well look like bad-dressed loners”

  
Zayn gives him a weird look, but follows him anyway out of the flat.

  
  


 

They are ready to down their four pint, when Niall traces the "ZAP" tattoo on Zayn's forearm with his fingers, a fond smiles tugging at the corner of his lips.

  
"I guess this was the most random one." he says, trying to ignore the goosebumps on Zayn's skin.

  
Zayn just chuckles, following Niall's patterns with his eyes.

  
Niall's eyes flicker up to Zayn's face, "Do you regret them?"

  
Zayn smiles softly, his dark orbs sweeping over the ink on his arms,"Not really, they bring good memories."

  
Now is Niall's turn to chuckle.

  
"We have been through some crazy stuff, you and I." the blond says smiling.

  
Then Niall procceeds to remind Zayn of the fact he wore eyeliner and almost amputated his foot with a weight.  
  


"I was so ridiculous, trying to impress all this people" Zayn accepts, blushing slightly.

  
Niall looks at him and quirk an eyebrow, "So this means you are done with being a poser?”

  
Zayn stares back intently at him, "Yeah, I guess if someone loves me, they will have to love for me."

  
Niall smiles and nods.

 

 

Niall is not an oblivious person. And he has never been a person to try to deny his feelings. He is well aware of how weird things are between him and Zayn these days and he can pinpoint the exact reason behind it.

  
He admits to himself that his eyes linger on Zayn's tanned chest on those rare nights when the English boy cooks him diner shirtless. He knows he sometimes he finds himself getting lost in those dark eyes, or stealing quick sideways glances as they watch television curled up together.

  
All in all, Niall understands and is 100% sure that he is attracted to Zayn. Somehow along the way the immunity he had grown to develop against Zayn is not working anymore. He is always aware of Zayn's presence and it is driving him crazy.

  
He doesn't know what to do with what he is feeling and he can't really talk to Zayn about it, so he finds himself slowly drifting apart from his flat mate.

  
Zayn notices. Of course he notices that something is off right away. Because Niall has never been guarded around him, never been on to keep his thoughts to himself. 

For his part, Niall knows that he is hurting Zayn who tiptoes around him, trying to figure where they stand right now.

  
There are days when Niall is really rude or really quiet or really weird, but Zayn, he is always amazing. He always smiles reassuringly at Niall when the blond comes to apologize to him; he pets his blond hair and gives him an encouraging smile, as if he were expecting something, but nothing ever comes.

 

  
  


Niall is in his room reading an article for uni when he hears the door of the flat open and close. He waits for a few moments and frowns when Zayn doesn't come to greet him. Intead, Niall gets up from his bed and walks to the living room to check if everything is fine.

The moment he sees what's going on. He gasps.

  
Zayn and a blond skinny girl are making out on the coach and by the looks of it they are really, _really_ into it. They must have heard the door (or the gasp) because Zayn breaks the kiss, his eyes flickering in Niall direction, and his hand uselessly trying to keep his shirt closes around his chest. Then he breaths out a “fuck” and looks uterly frustrated.

  
“Oh don't mind me,” Niall says as evenly as he can manage, “I'll just...yeah.” Niall rants off. Then he quickly retreats to his room, slams his door and thrcollapses on his bed. He's embarrased, and humiliated, and jealous, and horny, and maybe a little heart-broken, too.

  
He's mind is racing, just one thought is clear amongst all his inner turmoil. “You are so stupid.”

  
Because he's known about his growing feelings for his best friend for a while but he took him for granted. He just thought that Zayn would be waiting for him as long as it took for Niall to be ready and now he might have lost his chance with him forever.

She leaves soon after that and Niall wonders if Zayn will come to talk to him. He wonders if the older boy will give him any explanations and, as if on cue there's a knock on his door. And Niall doesn't really want to face Zayn right now so making a making a quick decision he pretends to be asleep.

Zayn opens the door anyway. He sits on the bed next to Niall, places his warm hand on Niall's small back and shakes the blond.

  
When Zayn talks next he sounds exhausted, “I know you are not asleep, Ni.” 

  
Niall just looks up at him, blue eyes mirroring Zayn's tiredness.

  
Zayn moves some Niall's blond locks away from his eyes. He let's his hand linger on his hair and just stares at him resignatedly.

  
“What's going on, Niall?”

  
Niall knows right away that Zayn must be refering to Niall's red rimmed, puffy eyes. Niall shakes his head and tries to hide from Zayn. He squirms away from hiz touch, embarrassed and a breath hitches in his throat. However, Zayn holds him in place staring right into his soul with resolve and then he leans into Niall. Niall looks powerlessly as the brown orbs get closer and closer and, the dark eyelashes start to graze his cheeks, Niall finally closes his eyes.

He feels nerves pooling in his stomach. However, they are not bad nerves. Not the awkward nerves; they just make Niall hyper aware of everything that surrounds him; like Zayn's hand cupping his face tenderly, or his warm breath washing over his face, or his long, dark eyelashes tickling his cheeks. And the moment Niall starts kissing back, he understand that he's been waiting to kiss Zayn since the moment he laid his eyes on him. So he does, with all he has to give, with all that he is.

  
  


  
  


They lay side by side in the matress in a sweaty mess, chests heaving out puffs of air as they try to catch their breaths. Zayn shifts his body lazily to face Niall and he lets his tanned arm drape itself heavily over the blond's waist. Then he lets his brown eyes sweep over Niall's feautures who has closed his eyes.

Zayn nunges Niall's side and the blond opens his eyes; lips pursed as he looks at Zayn in confusion.

Zayn smiles at him playfully. Then he squeezes Niall's side and asks, “This time, you will remember this, will you?”

Niall shifts too so that they are facing each other on bed, their knees knocking together in the process. Niall furrows his eyebrows and retorts, “Remember what?”

Zayn snorts and narrows his eyes, shaking his head in mock disbelieving.

“Oh, is that so?” Zayn leans closer, his tongue darting out to lick over Niall's bottom lip swiftly before he captures them properly in a long, sluggish kiss. After a couple of minutes, he ducks his neck and whispers into Niall's ear, “Then I have no alternative but to remind you what happened.... _again and again._ ”

Niall throws his head back, ticklish, and snorts. Then he clutches Zayn's hoodie, says, “Well, I think I can live with that.”, and brings their mouths together with a clash.

 

 

Living with a boyfriend is so different than living with your best mate.

Zayn keeps having these annoying habits, (he nicks Niall's clothes all the time and forgets to wash them later.) But hey, Niall doesn't mind being smelly if that means he can get into Zayn's shower in the mornings, hands sneaking around Zayn's waist as the older boy jolts in surprise.

Zayn cooks him more often now, and even if that means that Niall will have to do the washing later, that's fine with him too, because Zayn is wearing nothing but his boxers and the muscles in his back move back and forth as he stirs the spagetti carbonara he's cooking, and Niall sits on the table witnessing everything and smiles everytime Zayn walks towards him, stands between the blond's legs and leans in for a kiss until Niall squeezes his side, sniffs around and says, “Hey, I think the pasta is burning,” and Zayn runs towards the stove cursing under his breath, “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

 

They are in the pub celebrating that life is good because they are all graduating, (even Liam, who has been really struggling with this one subject), and Harry and Louis are talking already about holidays in Italy and Danielle is leaning to whisper something in Liam's ear, and Zayn is pecking Niall's cheek and smiling because, hey, he's found he's perfect match. A guy who loves him even if he doesn't listen to creepy music or can't lift a weight. And Zayn loves him back even when the blond is eating kebab and talking at the same time, and even when he cuts the nails of his feet on the couch. And it's been two months already and they are already planning a trip to Ireland to pack the rest of Niall's stuff to bring it to England where they plan to rent another flat and get a job and keep watching Dexter and play to be adults... and Zayn really has the feeling that this time he's done it right, and as he takes a look at his friends and boyfriend he beams, _of course he's done it fucking right._


End file.
